TSA Chapter 32

The group rested for about twenty minutes before continuing on to the fifth stage.

This stage’s boss was a Flaming Three-Headed Bird. Its body resembled an ostrich, but it was several times larger. The massive creature had three heads and was covered in fiery red feathers.

As soon as the Flaming Three-Headed Bird spotted the intruding humans, it flapped its wings and screeched ominously, flying toward the players.

With just one encounter, all three of its heads began spewing fire at them.

“Spread out! Four Seasons, hold its aggro!”

Four Seasons rushed forward, attempting to hold the boss’s aggro as before. However, the boss was too fast for him to keep up.

Fortunately, Gu Le tossed his shield at the boss while it flew low, temporarily drawing its attention.

But the boss didn’t give him any chance to solidify its aggro. As soon as it was attacked, it flew back into the air and began raining fireballs on Gu Le.

Ran Qi had just healed Gu Le when the boss suddenly shifted its focus to him. It swooped down, slashing at him twice with its talons, leaving him with barely any HP.

Feng Tian hurriedly healed Ran Qi, causing the boss to switch its target to Feng Tian.

Seeing the chaos, Night Owl quickly hurled a fireball at the boss, redirecting its aggro to himself, and followed up with a Glacier spell to slow the boss’s attack speed.

Windstorm Jiangnan immediately rushed forward with his shield, intercepting the boss’s fire attack and absorbing most of the damage.

Night Owl, now having a clearer strategy, called out, “This boss’s aggro is too chaotic. Everyone spread out. Coke and Four Seasons, open the stat tracker and protect the two players with the highest DPS!”

If they couldn’t hold the boss’s aggro, they might as well stop trying. The boss would inevitably target the players dealing the most damage. The two tanks could then focus on shielding those players from attacks, ensuring their safety.

Night Owl’s decision proved effective. Once the players spread out, collateral damage was significantly reduced. Meanwhile, others could attack freely. Even if the boss targeted the top DPS players, the tanks were there to intercept and protect them. As long as no one was instantly killed, they would survive.

After progressing through most of the dungeon, the team had developed immense trust in their healers. The two priests consistently provided timely and effective healing, ensuring no one’s HP dropped too low. Additionally, the team had buffs for auto-regeneration, which bolstered their sense of security.

Although this boss was particularly unfriendly to melee classes, the team had plenty of ranged damage dealers. With the tanks mitigating damage and everyone attacking to their fullest, they eventually managed to take down the boss.

[System Announcement] When it rains, it pours! Congratulations to players [Night Owl], [Soul Chaser], [Plume Ink], [Sword at Fleeting Time], [Coke], [Bai Ran], [Windstorm Jiangnan], [Feng Tian], [No Happiness], [Four Seasons], [Raphael], [Smoke], [Shura], [Blossoming], and [Thousand Machanisms] for achieving the first kill of the Flaming Three-Headed Bird, the fifth boss in the Abyss-level Cat Demon Nest dungeon! Rewarded with the title [Firebird Slayer] and a [Physical Exchange Coupon*1].

[System Announcement] Player [Night Owl] struck the final blow, causing the Flaming Three-Headed Bird to drop the [Firebird Necklace] before fleeing in defeat.

Even after the boss fell and the announcement appeared, Ran Qi could hardly believe his eyes. In his previous dungeon runs it would have taken multiple control-specialist mages working in tandem with spells like Glacier, Ice Wall, Frostbite, Blizzard, Swamp, Petrify, and Entangle to gradually wear down a boss. But Night Owl’s simple and direct strategy had worked flawlessly.

Truly impressive…

The boss didn’t disappoint their efforts, dropping a purple-grade necklace with excellent attributes.

[Firebird Necklace]

Restriction Level: 30 or above

Limited Profession: Shadows

Grade: A

Durability: 200/200

Attributes: Strength +72, Critical Strike +39, Agility +27, Constitution +16

Only No Happiness and Shura were Shadow in the team, so the necklace would be contested between the two. With this, their attack power would reach new heights.

Night Owl glanced at the stats. No Happiness had the higher DPS. While Shura was at a higher level, No Happiness’s skill [Throw] allowed him to use daggers like boomerangs. This was highly advantageous against the constantly flying boss, letting him deal consistent damage. Meanwhile, Shura had been forced to run around chasing the boss. Ultimately, No Happiness edged out Shura in total damage dealt.

“Shura, the necklace goes to No Happiness. Any objections?” Night Owl asked.

“None at all.” Shura shook his head calmly. While the necklace had excellent stats, there would be future opportunities. He wasn’t in a hurry.

“Huh? There’s also a gem?” After distributing the necklace, Soul Chaser noticed a blue gem in the team’s inventory.

“It just says it’s a magic-infused mineral… not sure what it’s for,” Plume Ink remarked, reading the vague item description.

[Magic Stone]

Grade: B

Description: A mineral infused with magic. Can absorb spell backlash when casting magic.

Ran Qi explained, “This is for me. When I cast Resurrection, I need to consume one Magic Stone.”

Sword at Fleeting Time asked, “So without Magic Stones, you can’t revive anyone?”

“That’s correct. I came across a few by chance; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to revive Coke earlier.”

“Ugh, I thought having Resurrection would make things easier, but there’s a limitation. This game is so stingy…” No Happiness muttered under his breath.

“Enough.” Raphael ruffled his hair to quiet him down.

Since Ran Qi was the only one with Resurrection, the Magic Stone was naturally assigned to him.

[World] Drunken Immortal: This necklace’s stats are incredible! I’m drooling over it!

[World] Dream Butterfly: This dungeon is insane. Three hours straight! I got tired just watching while doing my own quests. I can’t imagine running it myself.

[World] Diamond Galaxy: Not much left—just one final boss! So hyped!

[World] Peerless Beauty: So Resurrection has limitations? Does no Magic Stone mean no reviving?

[World] Jia Tu: I have a feeling the next stage will be insanely difficult…

[World] Cain: Stop jinxing it!

After over three grueling hours of battle, the group of fifteen finally reached the final challenge: the last boss—the Dark Night Cat Demon.

As the ultimate boss of the Level 30 Abyss Dungeon, this cat demon posed the greatest challenge of all.

Standing as tall as a small mountain, the boss had an arsenal of eight attack skills: pounce, claw strike, lightning, ice arrow, fire arrow, thunderstorm, flame storm, and blizzard. With both close-range and ranged attacks, a single misstep could mean death for any player.

Recalling the previous life’s struggles during the Level 30 Abyss Dungeon raids, where teams faced countless deaths before finally taking down the cat demon, Ran Qi couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.

However, this time, they were prepared for failure. Reaching the final stage so smoothly was already beyond anyone’s expectations.

“When the fight starts, Four Seasons will pull the boss’s aggro first. Coke, be ready to take over at any moment,” instructed Night Owl, pausing briefly before continuing. “If Coke falls… Jiangnan, you’re up next.”

Clearly aware of how formidable the boss was, Night Owl had planned for the worst.

[Private Chat] Night Owl: How many magic stones do you have left?

Night Owl needed to clarify the number of revival opportunities they had, given Ran Qi’s earlier vague statement.

Of course, it would be best if they didn’t need to use them.

[Private Chat] Bai Ran: I’ve got… 23 in total.

Ran Qi hesitated before answering honestly. To be safe, he had deliberately brought extra magic stones.

[Private Chat] Night Owl: That’s enough. If a warrior falls, revive them immediately. I have a bad feeling about this boss.

[Private Chat] Bai Ran: …Understood.

Night Owl’s intuition proved spot-on. This cat demon boss was no ordinary opponent. Even with their current levels and equipment, the chance of success was less than 40%.

“Everyone, top off your buffs and prepare for battle!” Night Owl called out. “Stay close to the healers and don’t wander too far!”

“Got it!”

As Four Seasons rushed in, the cat demon awoke from its slumber, its blood-red eyes glowing with a sinister light. Without hesitation, it swiped at Four Seasons with a massive claw. Four Seasons immediately raised his shield to block, but the impact numbed his hands and cut his HP by more than half.

Though aggro wasn’t yet stable, Ran Qi couldn’t just stand by. With Four Seasons’ remaining HP, there was no way he could survive another strike.

A holy white light enveloped Four Seasons, restoring his dangerously low HP. But the moment the healing spell took effect, the boss’s aggro shifted to Ran Qi.

“Meow-roar!” The cat demon let out a low growl, its massive body arching in preparation.

Ran Qi instantly recognized the boss’s attack pattern—it was about to pounce. With his speed, escaping was impossible.

“Spread out!”

Barely had Ran Qi shouted when the cat demon launched itself into the air, descending upon him like a collapsing mountain.

Knowing full well the boss’s devastating power, Ran Qi understood that no non-tank class could survive even one of its attacks.

Faced with such overwhelming speed, he instinctively closed his eyes, bracing for the inevitable. Suddenly, he felt a tight grip around his waist, followed by a warmth as he was pulled into someone’s embrace.

Boom!

Ran Qi felt the dull pain of being crushed, but he was surprised to find he hadn’t died—his HP had only dropped slightly.

“Roar!”

The cat demon’s aggro shifted to someone else, and its massive body moved away. Ran Qi sat up in a daze, only to realize someone was lying on top of him. As he moved, the person slid to the ground—it was Night Owl… or rather, Night Owl’s corpse.

Only then did Ran Qi realize that Night Owl had rushed over to shield him, taking the boss’s attack in his place.

[Current] Night Owl: Bai Ran, revive me now!

[Current] Night Owl: Feng Tian, heal! Coke, be ready to take over! Shura, flank the boss!

Not even death could stop Night Owl from commanding the fight…

Ran Qi’s emotions were complicated. He bit his lip, quickly chanting a spell to revive Night Owl. Once revived, he immediately healed him to full health and refreshed his buffs.

“Let Feng Tian handle healing for the warriors. You focus on protecting yourself. Anyone can die, but you absolutely cannot!” Night Owl said seriously after getting back on his feet.

“…Okay.”

“Haha, boss, that sounded like a confession! So cheesy!” Soul Chaser joked, even as he darted around to avoid the boss’s fire arrows, completely unbothered by the chaos.

“You talk too much!” Night Owl snapped back irritably, then charged at the boss. He cast Glacier to slow its movements and resumed directing the team’s actions.

[World] Pathfinder: Night Owl heroically saving the healer! So cool and commanding!

[World] Soft Cloud: What’s so “heroic”? That healer’s wrapped head to toe in a black cloak. Who knows what they even look like? Night Owl probably only saved him because he’s the team’s only resurrection caster!

[World] A Lone Boat: Oh, listen to that jealousy! You wish Night Owl would save you, but he wouldn’t even bother! I think that healer’s amazing. If he’d team up with me, I’d marry him on the spot!